Fish Factor: Pebble Mine withdrawal hailed as a victoryNews that mining giant Anglo-American plans to withdraw from the Pebble Mine project was greeted with joy by opponents who hailed it as a victory for the people of Bristol Bay and for the region’s resources. Pebble would be the largest gold and copper mine in North America, and its location looms...

Fish Factor: Buyers look to expand fishing opportunitiesAlaska’s record salmon season has permit brokers hopping as buyers seek to break into or expand their fishing opportunities in many fisheries. Notably, brokers say there is “a lot of great buzz” at Bristol Bay, despite a lackluster sockeye fishery that saw the bulk of the red run come and go eigh...

Fish Factor: A record season for salmonAlaska’s 2013 salmon season has yielded the largest catch ever, and the value of the fishery is also headed for the record books. The statewide catch on Sept. 6 was nearing 265 million fish – the old record was 222 million in 2005. A bumper run of pink salmon is behind the big harvest - the mindb...

Fish Factor: Report details fishing fleetWant to know the average fish prices at the docks over a decade … or where most Alaska fishermen and fishing fleets call home? Or how Alaska’s seafood industry stacks up against other state industries? What is likely the most comprehensive, user friendly report ever done on Alaska’s seafood indus...

Fish Factor:Alaska salmon continues to get broadsided by ill informed, far away big wigs who believe they are best suited to make seafood choices for their customers. Sodexo, one of the world’s largest food service contractors - said last week that its policy is to only serve seafood certified by (you guesse...

Fish Factor: Small boat owners lobby for cameras in place of observersWant to get onboard observers out of those small fishing boat bunks? The more fishermen who volunteer their vessels to field test new electronic monitoring systems (EMS), the faster the program will replace that extra body onboard. Starting this year and for the first time, fishery observers are ...

Salmon expected to blow by forecastAlaska salmon catches are poised to blow past the pre-season forecast of 179 million fish due to a plug of pinks that is coming in stronger than expected. “We are going to be short on sockeyes by five million or so, and we’re probably not going to make the chum salmon numbers either. So we’ll hav...

Fish Factor: Politicians educaute Wal-Mart on Alaska salmonAny doubts about the brand power of Alaska salmon can be put to rest after the high visibility contretemps over the past few weeks — and the fish story has a happy ending. All of Alaska’s ‘powers that be’ converged on Wal-Mart and the National Park Service (NPS) when both reportedly snubbed Alask...